Definitions for cunoniaceae

Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word cunoniaceae.

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Cunoniaceae, family Cunoniaceae, cunonia family(noun)

trees or shrubs or climbers; mostly southern hemisphere

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Cunoniaceae

The Cunoniaceae is a family of 26 genera and about 350 species of woody plants in the Antarctic flora, with many laurifolia species with glossy leaves endemic to laurel forest habitat. The family is native to Australia, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Oceania, Mexico, Central America, South America, Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, and southern Africa. Several of the genera have remarkable disjunct ranges, found on more than one continent, e.g. Cunonia in South Africa and New Caledonia, and Caldcluvia and Eucryphia in both Australia and South America. Caldcluvia also extends north of the Equator to the Philippines, and Geissois to Fiji in the Pacific Ocean.
The greatest diversity of genera are in Australia and Tasmania, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. South Africa has two genera. The Americas have four genera, with Weinmannia ranging from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean through tropical and temperate South America.
The family includes trees, shrubs and lianas; most are evergreen but a few are deciduous. The leaves are opposite or whorled, rarely alternate, and simple or pinnate, and often with conspicuous stipules. The flowers have four or five sepals and petals. The fruit is usually a woody capsule containing several small seeds; the seeds have an oily endosperm.